Industrial Ecology: The role of manufactured capital in sustainability

Weisz, Helga; Suh, Sangwon; Graedel, T. E.

doi:10.1073/pnas.1506532112

Cited by 111 publications

(74 citation statements)

References 73 publications

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“…The other half is used for bulk construction materials, industrial processes and product manufacture [20]. The latter are those that tend to accumulate as stock and provide the material basis for wealth [24][25][26]. Material stocks transform material and energy flows into services.…”

Section: The "Problem" With Materialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Material Services with Both Eyes Wide Open

et al. 2017

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Abstract:Energy has been at the forefront of the sustainable development discourse for quite some time as policymakers, industry heads and society at large have taken progressive steps to cut carbon via renewable energy technologies and energy efficiency measures. Unfortunately, some of these methods have given rise to perverse socio-environmental effects; as materials have been unnecessarily sacrificed, mines and wells have opened and plantations grown, in the name of energy saving. This paper contributes to clean energy-orientated policies and practices by exploring the discipline of sustainable materials. We first review two strategies: energy efficiency linked to materials; and material efficiency, meaning "doing more with less." We find that, although both contribute significantly, they are hampered by the rebound effect and their focus on "doing less bad" rather than "good". Furthermore, they do not in themselves evaluate the services and societal wellbeing that materials provide. We then define "material services" and propose a wider strategy that encompasses and enhances the previous two. Under the new strategy, we argue that sustainable materials should be considered as those that do no harm and which optimally, through the services provided, contribute to better sustainable development policies and practices.

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Section: The "Problem" With Materialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Material Services with Both Eyes Wide Open

et al. 2017

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“…These durable materials are extracted, processed, and used to construct and maintain buildings, transport and communication infrastructure, machinery, and consumer goods. The materials accumulate in socioeconomic systems and remain in use from several years up to decades and sometimes centuries.These stocks are the material basis of wealth (3,8). They provide services, such as shelter, mobility, and communication, and constitute the physical infrastructure for production and consumption (3, 4).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Global socioeconomic material stocks rise 23-fold over the 20th century and require half of annual resource use

Krausmann

Wiedenhofer

Lauk

et al. 2017

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

479

357

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Human-made material stocks accumulating in buildings, infrastructure, and machinery play a crucial but underappreciated role in shaping the use of material and energy resources. Building, maintaining, and in particular operating in-use stocks of materials require raw materials and energy. Material stocks create long-term pathdependencies because of their longevity. Fostering a transition toward environmentally sustainable patterns of resource use requires a more complete understanding of stock-flow relations. Here we show that about half of all materials extracted globally by humans each year are used to build up or renew in-use stocks of materials. Based on a dynamic stock-flow model, we analyze stocks, inflows, and outflows of all materials and their relation to economic growth, energy use, and CO 2 emissions from 1900 to 2010. Over this period, global material stocks increased 23-fold, reaching 792 Pg (±5%) in 2010. Despite efforts to improve recycling rates, continuous stock growth precludes closing material loops; recycling still only contributes 12% of inflows to stocks. Stocks are likely to continue to grow, driven by large infrastructure and building requirements in emerging economies. A convergence of material stocks at the level of industrial countries would lead to a fourfold increase in global stocks, and CO 2 emissions exceeding climate change goals. Reducing expected future increases of material and energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions will require decoupling of services from the stocks and flows of materials through, for example, more intensive utilization of existing stocks, longer service lifetimes, and more efficient design. material flow accounting | socioeconomic metabolism | circular economy | carbon emission intensity | manufactured capital T he growing extraction of natural resources, and the waste and emissions resulting from their use, are directly or indirectly responsible for humanity approaching or even surpassing critical planetary boundaries (1). Both decoupling of resource use from economic development and absolute reductions in the use of certain materials and energy sources are imperative for sustainable development (2). The demand for materials and energy is to a large extent driven by constructing, maintaining, and operating inuse stocks of materials (hereafter "material stocks"), or what economists call manufactured capital (buildings, infrastructure, artifacts). These stocks transform material and energy flows into services, such as shelter or mobility (3, 4). The significance of longlived stocks of infrastructure and buildings for determining and potentially reducing future material and energy use and greenhouse gas emissions is increasingly recognized (5, 6). This study investigates the dynamics of global stocks and flows of materials by using and expanding a material flow accounting (MFA) approach. MFA is used in industrial ecology to study the biophysical domain of society, comprising in-use stocks and the processes and flows that maintain and operate these stocks, ...

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“…However, the systematic analysis of material stocks and stock-flow relations has only recently begun (see review below). Usually denoted as "in-use stocks of materials" (abbreviated here as "material stocks"), material stocks may be defined as ordered and interrelated biophysical entities created and reproduced by the continuous flows of Material stocks represent the physical infrastructure for production and consumption, and hence the material basis of societal wellbeing [103]. They play a central role in deriving services required for the functioning of society such as shelter, mobility and communication from material and energy flows [28,105].…”

Section: Stock-flow Relations In Socioeconomic Metabolism Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In Industrial Ecology, empirical studies of material stocks are rapidly advancing in the last few years, although with varying focus and different concepts according to which the metabolic framework is implemented [27,28,32,76,88,103]. Much research on material stocks has focused on specific substances or materials at various scales.…”

Section: Recent Progress In Quantifying Socioeconomic Materials Stocksmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Dynamic stockflow models distinguish cohorts of stocks, e.g., age of passenger cars or efficiency of industrial plants depending on the time of construction. They typically allow characterizing stocks in terms of the resource requirements involved in building, renewing and using them, as well as the related emissions [ Material stocks represent the physical infrastructure for production and consumption, and hence the material basis of societal wellbeing [103]. They play a central role in deriving services required for the functioning of society such as shelter, mobility and communication from material and energy flows [28,105].…”

Section: Recent Progress In Quantifying Socioeconomic Materials Stocksmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Material Stock–Flow–Service Nexus: A New Approach for Tackling the Decoupling Conundrum

et al. 2017

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Fundamental changes in the societal use of biophysical resources are required for a sustainability transformation. Current socioeconomic metabolism research traces flows of energy, materials or substances to capture resource use: input of raw materials or energy, their fate in production and consumption, and the discharge of wastes and emissions. This approach has yielded important insights into eco-efficiency and long-term drivers of resource use. But socio-metabolic research has not yet fully incorporated material stocks or their services, hence not completely exploiting the analytic power of the metabolism concept. This commentary argues for a material stock-flow-service nexus approach focused on the analysis of interrelations between material and energy flows, socioeconomic material stocks ("in-use stocks of materials") and the services provided by specific stock/flow combinations. Analyzing the interrelations between stocks, flows and services will allow researchers to develop highly innovative indicators of eco-efficiency and open new research directions that will help to better understand biophysical foundations of transformations towards sustainability.

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Industrial Ecology: The role of manufactured capital in sustainability

Cited by 111 publications

References 73 publications

Material Services with Both Eyes Wide Open

Material Services with Both Eyes Wide Open

Global socioeconomic material stocks rise 23-fold over the 20th century and require half of annual resource use

The Material Stock–Flow–Service Nexus: A New Approach for Tackling the Decoupling Conundrum

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